Bob Kerridge: License owners to solve dog's breakfast of canine control
My first thoughts are of the canine population and the vexing question of dog control. If the same thinking reflected in suggested transport solutions is applied to dogs, we have already solved half our problems.
Under the present structure, the Dog Control Act bestows local authorities with the power to concoct their own dog control bylaws, which creates, literally, a "dog's breakfast" of seven confusing regulatory regimes in the Auckland region.
As a result the cost to register your dog ranges from $80 in the Franklin District to $169 in Auckland City for "entire" dogs. And $60, again in Franklin, to $140 in Papakura for desexed dogs.
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Equally when it comes to enforcement of the various dog control bylaws, the extremes between local authorities is alarming, and range from the over-exuberant draconian administration to one where the presence of dog control officers is a rare occurrence. All at the whim of the ruling council in the area.
Hey, someone who actually agrees with me ?! I'm in good company :)
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Imagine a city whose dog-owning residents are aware of their responsibilities, both to the dogs and their fellow humans, and are made accountable for the actions of their dogs.
This is achievable through the simple act of licensing the owner, not the dog. In providing a licence to individuals for the privilege of having a dog it would, in the first instance, be necessary for the person to be educated into the essential responsibilities that go with such an entitlement. MORE>>
Yes !!
It's wouldn't just be for the Super City, but the country too!
2 Comments:
At 8:06 a.m.,
Karen Batchelor said…
Good old Bob. A bureaucrat to the end.
Licensing dog owners will do no more to control the inconsiderate, ignorant, negligent and plain cruel than licensing drivers does to stop drunk or careless driving. There will always be crap owners, just as there will always be drunk drivers, bad parents, and criminals.
It will just be yet another tier of bureaucrats shuffling paper and huge added costs for dog owners and taxpayers to fix what essentially isn't broken.
If the dog control agencies can't educate owners on their application for a dog licence now, or get off their tails and go out and do their job, what difference will licensing the owner make to their attitude and work ethic? Dog owners are already liable for the actions of their dogs.
Aren't dogs having a hard enough time of it already finding and keeping homes? Especially in the middle of the most serious recession since the Great Depression, do dog owners really need more hoops to jump through?
It's time that the councils were brought under control and that the bylaws pertaining to dogs and dog ownership were standardised throughout the country so everyone knows their obligations and responsibilities.
New Zealand is horrifically over-legislated now, and we have seen what happens when the little dictators in local councils are allowed to write the rules themselves.
Breed Specific Legislation is a prime example and really opened a little shop of horrors, when there was nothing wrong with our existing legislation at the time, it just needed enforcing - irrespective of breed.
They still haven't sorted that mess out despite qualified experts the world over rubbishing it as some of the worst legislation ever written.
The problem lies with the enforcement and over-enforcement and complete lack of enforcement in dog control agencies, so why not start with them?
As for animal welfare issues, it's the job of the SPCA to enlighten the populace about good and bad ownership practices isn't it?
Licensing owners won't stop dogs being left chained by the neck to a kennel year in year out, or missing out on vaccinations or dental treatments, or being beaten or fed and sheltered inadequately either.
Aren't those issues more important than a more punitive and demanding regime for dog owners?
At 3:39 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
We hope Bob is successful in getting dog owner licensing introduced. The team @ Nimby Rotorua fully supports the introduction of dog owner licensing
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